Attorneys: Rezko information may be key to Cellini case

Friday

Oct 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2008 at 6:21 AM

The indictment Thursday of longtime Springfield political fundraiser and Republican leader William Cellini on conspiracy and extortion charges appears to be based largely on the same facts that resulted in a partial acquittal last spring for Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

Chris Dettro

The indictment Thursday of longtime Springfield political fundraiser and Republican leader William Cellini on conspiracy and extortion charges appears to be based largely on the same facts that resulted in a partial acquittal last spring for Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
So why would federal prosecutors in Chicago think they can convict Cellini in connection with the same scenario?
“You can get vastly different results from a different jury,” said Springfield defense attorney Jon Gray Noll, who has handled numerous criminal cases in federal court.
Beyond that, the answer is largely speculative.
Rezko may be supplying new evidence as his only way to mitigate his upcoming sentence for the crimes of which he was convicted, said Urbana defense attorney and University of Illinois law professor J. Steven Beckett.
Cellini, 73, a key player in Sangamon County and state politics for many years, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.
Cellini’s lawyer, Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney in Chicago, says his client is “completely innocent” of the charges.
The indictment accuses Cellini of conspiring with two Chicago businessmen to shake down for political contributions an investment firm and its movie-producer principal, Thomas Rosenberg. The real estate investment firm, Capri Capital, was seeking a $220 million allocation from the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System.
Webb said the indictment merely rehashes allegations already aired at the Rezko trial — allegations of which he was found innocent. Rezko was convicted of 16 counts last spring, but found not guilty of eight other charges, including those that most directly involved Cellini.
However, Noll said the Cellini indictment “is much more focused, more centered, than the Rezko indictment.”
Beckett said most white-collar criminal prosecutions and subsequent investigations involve the power of the prosecutor — in this case U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald — to play a significant role in the sentence.
“Rezko was convicted, and his only way to do significantly less time is to cooperate with the government,” Beckett said. “There may have been statements made in addition to what was available at his trial. Rezko didn’t testify, so we don’t know if he had other evidence that led to computer-based evidence, for example.”
“It’s just a hunch, but I think this is going to be Rezko, plus whatever he did to cooperate,” Beckett said.
And although a defense attorney would certainly say that tape recordings made of Cellini’s conversations with Stuart Levine, a member of the TRS board who turned state’s evidence against Rezko, are inconclusive, “there may be other tapes we don’t know about,” Noll said.
“But based on the cards that are showing, he (Cellini) has a very defendable case,” Noll said.
Noll also said federal prosecutors “always try to get everybody to cooperate,” but that, based on the multi-count indictment, he doubts Cellini is cooperating with the government.
“Usually if someone is cooperating, you’ll get a one-count indictment with the plea agreement encompassing everybody else,” he said.
“We’re assuming that the evidence is the same as it was in the Rezko case, and that’s a risky assumption,” Noll said. “I’m not sure that’s correct.”
Noll added that Cellini’s indictment “is a sad day for Springfield.”
“The Cellini family has done an awful lot for this community,” he said.
Cellini is the 13th defendant charged as part of the Operation Board Games investigation, an ongoing federal probe of influence peddling and kickbacks primarily involving the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System and the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
Cellini is expected to be arraigned in Chicago within a week to 10 days.
Chris Dettro can be reached at (217) 788-1510.

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA ~ 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service